My Property is being Used by Sedrak Kocharian's Store, Says Resident

“The fact is that my property, which was expropriated for state needs, is now being used by Sedrak Kocharian's 'Stefano Ricci' branded store,” said Sybuhie Ghazabyan, a resident who lost her home in North Avenue back in 2002, during ongoing hearings in the National Assembly on the topic of property rights violations resulting from the recognition of exclusive public interest for the North Avenue-Cascade project.

She emphasized that compensation for her home has yet to be resolved in the 17 years since. “It seems that compensation was given based on an electoral list. Those who voted in favor in 1998 (for Robert Kocharian) benefited, while those who voted against faced some financial, physical, or moral retaliation,” Mrs. Ghazabyan noted, adding that she suggests oligarchs who cause damage to the state and leave Armenia should return the funds belonging to the affected families before departing.

Irina Piloyan, a former resident of Arami Street, also stated during the same hearings that they had a 1100 square meter plot of land and a 315 square meter building. “In the heart of Yerevan, on Arami Street, one square meter was valued at $250 in 2006, when the minimum value for a square meter of land was $1500. We were compensated $250 per square meter. We have appealed to the ECHR, and ten years have already passed; we are hopeful that this issue will be discussed in the near future,” said Piloyan.

According to her, part of their land was expropriated by a company belonging to Ara Abrahamyan, the president of the Union of Armenians of Russia. “We accidentally discovered that Yerevan Mayor Ervand Zakaryan, with just one decision, allocated 300 square meters of our property to a company owned by Ara Abrahamyan. As owners, we learned this by chance while going through the process of obtaining a new property certificate, and saw that part of our property was registered under the name 'СОГЛАСИЕ-АРМЕНИЯ',” she added.

Irina Piloyan also mentioned that in private conversations, many judges tell them that their struggle is just, but they cannot do anything about it.